Danny Masterson’s rape retrial winding down amid alleged Church of Scientology leak – National | 24CA News
Closing arguments are anticipated to start Tuesday on the second trial of That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson, who’s charged with raping three girls at his Los Angeles house between 2001 and 2003.
Lawyers for each side rested their instances Friday, three weeks into the trial. Masterson’s defence lawyer declined to name any witnesses.
The 47-year-old’s first trial led to a mistrial in December, with jurors hopelessly deadlocked on all three counts.
The actor has pleaded not responsible. He may get 45 years in jail if convicted on all three counts.
Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo has allowed the prosecution to instantly say that Masterson drugged every of the victims. Olmedo solely allowed secondary proof of it on the first trial.
The Church of Scientology has performed a good bigger position within the second trial than it did within the first; Masterson is a member of the church, and all three girls within the trial are former members, however the church itself isn’t a defendant within the trial.
The decide allowed a former member of the church’s management to testify as an professional on the establishment’s insurance policies about going to police. The plaintiffs claimed church officers saved them from going to authorities with their accusations about Masterson. The church has denied having any insurance policies forbidding members from reporting different members to legislation enforcement.
Last week, a courtroom controversy broke out throughout the trial over an unaffiliated Scientology lawyer apparently having possession of trial proof. Deputy DA Reinhold Mueller advised the court docket that he acquired an e mail on May 2 from a lawyer belonging to the church, Vicki Podberesky, that contained 12 recordsdata of discovery materials from the continuing trial. The e mail criticized the retrial, although the invention materials connected was supposed solely to be seen by the prosecution, defence legal professionals and the court docket. It is unclear the place the alleged leak got here from.
Actor Leah Remini, a former Scientologist, mentioned she has been visiting the Los Angeles courtroom all through the trial. The retrial has garnered ample consideration from the general public partially due to Remini’s outspoken commentary.
She shared news of the alleged discovery materials leak to Twitter on Thursday and wrote that the church had “no reason at all” to own the knowledge.
“Scientology, which SHOULD be a co-defendant in this trial, has repeatedly lied, saying it has no covert involvement in this trial,” Remini, 52, accused in an extended thread.
Remini, who left the Church of Scientology in 2013, mentioned the obvious leak is proof the church is “colluding” with Masterson and his legal professionals.
“There is nothing Scientology and Scientologists won’t do to infiltrate government offices, organizations, and institutions,” she wrote. “There’s nothing Scientology won’t do to obtain the intel it needs to protect itself. It has literally been Scientology policy for seven decades.”
Earlier, Remini additionally claimed the church tried to have her faraway from the courtroom when the trial started three weeks in the past.
Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller will likely be first to provide a closing argument within the downtown Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday morning. He will attempt to persuade the jury to unanimously convict Masterson after failing to get even half of the jurors on the first trial to vote responsible on any rely.
— With recordsdata from Global News’ Sarah Do Couto
© 2023 The Canadian Press
